Portable electric lamp.



gwvento'as atto'cmgs Patented May 23, 1916.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HUBERT M. GREIST, FREDERICK W. BECKERT, AND GEORGE L. HINMAN, OF HAVEN,CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNORS TO THE GREIST MANUFACTURING COM- PANY, ACORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

PORTABLE ELECTRIC LAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1916.

Application filed September 23, 1915. Serial N 0. 52,203.

Y b all whom it may 0011mm Be it known that we, llunnn'r M. Gnnis'r,FREDERICK l/V. Bucnun'r, and (inonon L. I-IINMAN, all citizens of theUnited States, residing at New llaven, in the county of New Ilaven andState of Connecticut, have invented or discovered certain new and usefulImprovements in Portable Electric Lamps, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to that class of portable electric lamps inwhichclamping springs, (by which the lamps may be attached to variousobjects, and which also serve as lifting springs for suction cups) arenormally housed within the conical bases of the lamps, but are capableof being partly extended beyond the bottoms of such bases when suchclamping springs are to be used for attaching the lamps to various ob.jects, as the edge of a table, the back of a chair, or the like. Theconical bases of these portable electric lamps, of the class to whichthe present invention relates, are usually formed of thin sheet brass,and the volute wire clamping springs have usually been attached to theinsides of these thin sheet brass. bases by small clips soldered to theinsides of the bases about midway of their height, these clips, in eachinstance, overlying one side of a median coil of the volute spring so asto leave the other parts of the coil free to perform a clampingattaching function, and also free to lift a sliding stem to which arubber suction cup is secured, and by means of which suction cup thelamp may be attached to a looking-glass or other hard smooth surface, ifdesired. This soldering operation, in securing a spring to the inside ofa hollow lamp base, is a somewhat diflicult one, and in thus attachingthese volute springs directly to the insides of the thin brass bases ofthe lamps such bases are liable to be dented or buckled, either by theoperation of soldering the clips to the bases, or by the strain on thebases at the points where the springs are attached, when stress isapplied to the springs. While this trouble might be obviated by usingheavy sheet brass for the lamp bases, such means of avoiding thedifficulty would be objectionable on account of the increased cost; and

held in a lifted position by a volute the present invention has for itsobject to avoid this weakness in a simple and economical manner, byproviding the spider washers, which serve to steady the sliding stemscarrying the suction cups, with extensions having hooks with which thevolute wire springs may be engaged to secure them in place, thusavoiding soldering operations, for attaching the springs to the lampbases, altogether, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawing Figure l is a verticalv sectional view of alamp base embodying the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a bottom viewof the same.

Referring to the drawing, 12 denotes a thin conical sheet metal lampbase to which is suitably connected or attached a somewhat heavy orstiff metal spider washer 13, preferably of brass or bronze. This washer13, in the preferred form of the invention herein shown, is secured tothe base 12 by a tube or long eyelet 14 which is flanged or turnedoutward slightly at its top and bottom and which receives a verticallysliding stem 15 extending upward through the top of the conical base 12and which is normally spring 16 the top of which is soldered orotherwise suitably attached to the lower end of said stem, thus makingan enlargement serving as a stop to limit the upward movement of saidstem under the lifting influence of said spring. The lowest coil of thevolute wire spring 16 ,is preferably attached to the base 12 by beingreceived in a groove afforded by an inturned lip 17 at the bottom ofsaid base, one portion 18 of said lip being, in the present instance,bent down partly around said lower coil to'hold the same in place.

One of the longer arms 19 of the spider washer 13 is provided with twoseparated depending hooks 20 with which a median coil of the spring 16is engaged, to hold said spring in place and said spring is preferablyprovided with a quick bend 21 disposed between said hooks, to insure aproper grasp of the latter on said spring. This means of attaching thespring 15 will leave a coil 16 sufliciently loose so that it may bepartly drawn out of the base of the lamp to be used as a clamping springto attach the lamp to any suitable object, the upper coils of the volutespring being also left free so as to exert a lifting influence on thesliding stem 14. By thus attaching the volute spring 15 to a stifl' armof the spider washer 13 any danger of marring or indenting the thinsheet brass base 12 is avoided, and the soldering operations, heretoforerequired in attaching the springs to the bases, are done away with.

The extensions or longer arms 19 of the spider washer and. the uppersurfaces of which are shaped to conform to the lower or inner surface ofthe lamp base, serve not only to stiffen said base but also serve toprevent any buckling or indenting thereof by direct strain thereon fromthe volute spring 16, either when the latter is compressed in forcingdown the sliding stem 14, or in pulling out a clamping coil, as 16, whenit is desired to attach the lamp to any suitable object.

The spider washer 13, with its longer arms or extensions 19, being ofrather thick or heavy metal, serves to weight the base somewhat, so thatthe lamp will not be top heavy. Ihus any danger of denting or bucklingthe thin brass lamp base 12, through the spring 16, is entirely avoided,and the lamp base is stiffened and somewhat weighted by the washer 13and its extensions, while the tube or long eyelet 14, by which thewasher 13 is attached to the base 12, obviates the necessity ofsoldering the washer to the base, as heretofore.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the invention provides avery convenient and desirable means for attaching volute wire spring,

volute clamping and lifting springs and spider washers to lamp bases.

Having thus described our invention we claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent:

1. In a portable electric lamp, the combination with a sheet metal base,of a metal washer located within said base and having an extended armprovided with depending hooks, and a volute wire spring a median coil ofwhich is engaged with said hooks and thus is attached to said arm,leaving other parts loose.

2. In a portable electric lamp, the combination with a sheet metal base,of a metal washer located within said base and having an extended armprovided with depending hooks, and a volute wire spring a median coil ofwhich is engaged with said hooks and thus is attached to said arm,leaving other parts loose, said spring being provided with a quick benddisposed between said hooks. 3. In a portable electric lamp, thecombination with a sheet metal base, of a metal washer located withinsaid base, a tube slightly flanged at top and bottom and serving tosecure said washer to said base, 'a a median coil of which is attachedto an arm of the washer, leaving other parts loose, a sliding stemwithin said tube and to which the upper end of said volute spring isattached, so as to exert a lifting influence thereon, and a suction cupcarried by said sliding stem.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures, in presence of twowitnesses. HUBERT M. GREIST. FREDERICK W. BECKERT. GEORGE L. HINMAN.

